The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-04-07
An Agricultural Experiment Station.
(Ffom The Ne1v York Weekly Sum-

tage." This is the elimination OF the
wisdom of the officers of the New York
Agricultural Experiment Station at &c.
neva, in Ontario county, concentrated on
the difficulty experienced by trans.
planted young plants in re-establishing
themselves. There is gracious descent to
the level Of the intelligence of our far.
mers, as well as fine remedial scisnce, in
President Swans preceding statement Of
the touching case of these young plants,
Especially if set in loose soil, as the
wind moving the stems to and fro presses
the earth from contact, and produces q
movement in the roots which prevents
their establishment. Under these cir.
cnmstances, compression Of the ground
about the newly trausplanted plant, by
trampling, has been found beneficial /;
and many times this process will offset
the injurious action of the wind" In
the next sentence of the stations report,
Swan advises the use of the shingle.
There is evidence that the majority of
the agricultural Sanhedrim which draws
big salaries at Geneva incline, as to the
more scientific treatment, to trampliug
the soil around the newly set plant with
the human foot encased in boot. Swan,
their reporting moutbpiece, dismissing
the subject, deplores that "the partial
remedy of firming the ground seems
known to and practized by bat few" Do
the unquestionably intelligent farmers Of
the State of New York know what the
institution st Geneva, founded in their
interest, and out of which Issues such
puerile nonsense, costs? II cost S22, 1000
LAST year, and this year the amazing
humbugs who are in possession of it are
begging the Legislature for 100000!
Think of these ridiculous experiment.
ers actually keeping record Of the sun
shine for the last two years on four
observations day-to prove what?
That "there is some relation between
sunshine and plant development" and
that temporal .e is nearly proportional
to sunshine" Put into the English that
farmers talk, this means that when the
sun shines it is warm. 1t means nothing
more.
Just think of the absurd creatures
sticking thermometers into the ground all
over their farm and keeping bulky
record of the temperature of the soil.
The knowledge is as worthless as would
be that of the loss of force sustained by a
rooster in the effort of Growing. The
farmers of New York do not seek to
escape the laws of their States climate
and geology. They don't ask for change,
and they don't care the snap of finger
what the temperature of their fields is.
They go aud work them.
1t is almost incredible that this iutelli.
gent State yearly pays $4,000 for exper'
iments as trivial as those made at
Geneva, first on four COWS fed one way,
and afterward on two fed another way,
to determine if the weight of cows
excrement was not exactly two and
seven-tenths times the weight of her
food A Bachelor of Science acooped
up, and a Master of Arts weighed and
recorded in this search after the tremen.
dous truth.
In like manner these humbugs
addressed themselves to the mighty
problem, "How much water does a COW
drink?" An Ulster county farmer
would answer, Gall she wants." But
these charlatans weighed the rations of
the four COWS, Gem, Meg, Ann, and
Emm, consisting of hay, ensilage, meal,
shorts, and water, and they carefully
kept tables-absolutely kept them
through portions of three years-and
announced to the waiting world that q
COW needs eight quarts of water day!
They measured, weighed, scooped, re-
corded, tabulated, and used mathematics
to determine the weight of the excrement
daily passed by a COW, and published a
costly volume to show that it is forty.
eight pounds. They actually printed
columns of figures about this, and they
are proud of the forty. eight pounds
They think it is science.
Just think of these costly humbugs
(s22, 1000 year, weighing, day after day
for nine months, herd OF COWS in calf,
half under uniform feed, half under
changed feed, and keeping elaborate
tables to show the cows gain in live
weight at equal periods before calving,
and the weights of their calves at birth,
all to reach the grand scientific conclu.
sion that "the growth of the fetus must
be satisfied before the increase of live
weight can be interpreted as gain in the
cowP'
In the last annual report of these
experimental professors of agriculture il
is regretfully published as an original
discovery that there is no relation
between the amount of water drank by 8
COW and her yield Of milk. Every dairy
maid in the State knew this. But under
the pretentious heading, Influence Of
Distance from Calving on Milk Yield
the funny fellows girt themselves with
science and smite unbelief down with
records and columns of figures to prove
that the natural falling off in cows
milk each month after she calves is
"about nine per cent. of her previous
months yield" Barring the childish
science of the 'fnine per cent" is not this
falling of familiar fact all over the
world where COWS are milked2
1t is enough to make an earnest Amer
ican despair of the future of democracy
| in America to see the ease with which s